Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Neighborhood DeForestation

When we bought our current house a couple of years ago, one thing that pleased us about the neighborhood was the trees. It's located in the foothills of the Adirondacks. We could have bought further up the Northway, in real forest, but then my hubby would have had a longer commute. We've had enough of long commutes.

Instead we choose a neighborhood that is old and established, and covered with ancient trees. At least it was.

Just months after we moved in we awoke to the sound of chainsaws. A peek out the window revealed that our next door neighbor had hired a tree company that was already hard at work in their backyard. OK, a part of home ownership is maintaining the property. Sometimes loose branches or entire trees have to go.



They spent the next three days cutting down almost every tree in the neighbor's yard. We watched much of the carnage from our schoolroom window. M-girl, then six, asked sadly, "Don't they know that they're making the earth warmer?" Apparently not.

Fast forward two years. Recently we had to have the tree guys come and take down a couple of our old giants. Only a couple, most of them are still standing proudly.

The next morning we awoke again to the sound of chainsaws. This time they were in the yard of the house behind us. We've never met them. By the time they were done, two days later, we had an entirely new view of their yard.

Sigh! It should be an interesting summer. If there's nothing on TV, we can just stare out the back windows at the neighbors.

6 comments:

  1. Oh that is so sad! Our boys have asked that question too when they see people taking down huge amounts of trees.

    I think too many people are in denial about the environment. I keep reminding the boys that we can at least do our part. :)

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    1. It can be hard to realize that each of us does have an effect on the earth. In our neighborhood it is true that sometimes the old trees need to be trimmed or cut for the safety of those who live here. But it does sadden me to see whole yards cut down.

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  2. We live in a suburb close to the city and we only had one big old Oak tree in our front yard. I loved it, but it has some sort of tree disease and was dying. It became a safety hazard as large branches started to fall off. We had to cut it down- so sad. The neighbors weren't too happy either- now the sun hit their porch!

    Thanks for visiting Messy Nest! I like the idea of a folding party. I think we'll have to have a family laundry day- might actually be fun. or maybe not. lol

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    1. The first house that we owned had only one tree in the yard - that we planted! I love having stately, old trees in our yard now, but there is definitely maintenance involved to keep them safe.

      My older son keeps wanting me to teach him to do the laundry, I'm just not sure if I trust him to sort colors and look for stains. Oops! Maybe it's my problem that I feel overwhelmed by laundry. I'd better share the task a bit!

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  3. I know how you feel. My neighbors seem to enjoy scorched earth. Anything that lives is mowed, cut, or trampled down. Sigh... I need to live in the country.

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    1. I know, I really belong on a farm, or in the middle of the woods somewhere!

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